1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a quilting hoop.
Quilting material ordinarily has a fabric facing layer and a batting backing layer adhesively attached to the fabric layer. In order for a person to sew or otherwise work on quilting material, the portion of the quilting material being worked on must be held in tension. One means of tensioning the working area of quilting material involves utilizing a pair of inner and outer concentric rings in which the inner diameter of the outer ring is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the inner ring. The inner ring is placed under the quilting material, the outer ring is placed above the area of the quilting material to be worked on and the rings are moved together such that the inside diameter of the outer ring overlies the outside diameter of the inner ring with the quilting material sandwiched therebetween. One example of such a device may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,367 to Samoilov. This patent discloses an embroidery hoop in which the inner surface of the outer hoop has a groove and the outer surface of the inner hoop has a projection adapted to be received in the groove to increase the force applied to the material trapped therebetween. Samoilov attempts to solve the problem of applying sufficient bite on the fabric between the inner and outer rings to prevent the fabric from slipping between the rings during the time a person is working on it.
Of course, when concentric inner and outer rings are utilized to tension a piece of fabric, both rings must be precisely sized and the two rings only can accommodate fabric having a very narrow range of thickness. If the thickness of the fabric changes significantly, one or both of the rings must be replaced.
It has been found desirable to provide a quilting hoop which will accommodate quilting fabrics having different thicknesses. An example of a prior art device which may be utilized to accommodate fabric of different thicknesses may be seen by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 570,940 to Maynard. This patent discloses an embroidery holder having a ring with an outer groove and a wire band which may be coiled to provide a small degree of elasticity. A cord is interlaced between the coils of the spring to take up any stretch in the spring. Another device designed to accommodate fabric having different thicknesses may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 998,657 to Thomas. Thomas discloses an embroidery hoop having a pair of concentric rings. The inner ring is rigid and the outer ring is elastic. The elastic ring has an inner wire the ends of which are connected by springs. Another device having a fixed inner ring and a resilient outer ring may be seen by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 1,221,123 to Westhaver. In Westhaver the resilient ring consists of a plurality of rubber bands having their ends joined together. Although fabric holders having one fixed ring and a fixed length resilient outer ring accommodates fabrics having a different thickness, they lack adjustment to increase or decrease the force applied to trap the fabric between the two bands.
A fabric holding device adapted to increase or decrease the tension on a fabric trapped between an inner and outer ring may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,242,972 to Pettit. In Pettit a single piece of rigid wire is adapted to fit within a groove formed in a loop to trap fabric between the groove and the wire. The ends of the wire may be twisted towards each other to tighten the wire around the fixed hoop. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,250 to Golan discloses a fabric holder having a fixed outer ring with an inner annular groove and an inner spring ring adapted to fit within the groove. Neither Golan nor Pettit provide means for easily adjusting the tension applied to a fabric secured on a ring.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a device which will support quilting materials having different thicknesses and which device is capable of being easily adjusted to increase or decrease the force applied to the perimeter of the quilting material being mounted on the device.